Morales wins UUA presidency decisively

UUA President-elect Peter Morales won the UUA presidency decisively with 59 percent of all votes. He won 55 percent of the absentee vote (1,020 to 827) and 61 percent of the on-site vote (1,041 to 654). His margin of victory is 580 votes. Seven ballots were disqualified for discrepancies; one vote was cast for "No."

Outgoing UUA President William G. Sinkford won by the largest margin of any UUA president in a contested race when he was first elected in 2001. Sinkford won that election with 67.7 percent (2,218 to 1,043).

Grammy winners serenade Sinkford at reception

A donor reception honoring outgoing UUA President William G. Sinkford Thursday night featured speeches by several notable UU leaders and culminated in a surprise performance by Sinkford's favorite band, Grammy-winning a capella group The Persuasions.

In one particularly moving speech, Denny Davidoff, former UUA moderator, described her relationship with Sinkford. "More than anything else, Bill Sinkford is a pastoral presence in my life," she said. "In emails and on the phone and snatched in face-to-face meetings, he comforts me when I am scared. He listens—oh, how he listens—when I have made plans and God is laughing. He loves me when I am anxious and try to project that anxiety on him with criticism or complaint. [His family knows] the steadfastness of his love, and so do I. UUA presidents come and go, but love lives forever, and I am standing on the side of love."

During her own comments, Gini Courter, current UUA moderator, wondered what might have happened had Sinkford begun his term now with the current U.S. administration and national sensibility, instead of eight years ago, but quoted James Michener, who said, "An age is called dark not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it." Courter continued, "I know we are where we are—in the standing that we have, in the increased public voice, in the increased visibility—that we were ready because Bill Sinkford refused to let us keep our light under a bushel."

Other speakers included the Rev. Terry Sweetser, the UUA's vice president of stewardship and development; the Rev. Wayne Arnason, chair of the Ministerial Fellowship Committee and co-minister of West Shore UU Church in Rocky River, Ohio; and the Rev. Abhi Janamanchi, minister of Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater, Fla., and a member of the UUA President's International Advisory Council.

The Persuasions finished the evening off with 85 minutes of hits such as "Lean on Me" and "Chain Gang" that got the audience clapping and moving, and, at one point, participating in a conga line "train" around the room.

Expressing his surprise at their appearance, Sinkford called the performance a "thrill" and exclaimed, "I have loved these gentlemen for 40 years!"

Donors made special contributions to bring The Persuasions to the event as a personal thank you to Sinkford for his many years of service to Unitarian Universalism.

President Sinkford delivers final report

In his final presidential report to the General Assembly, UUA President William G. Sinkford reviewed the key initiatives of his eight-year administration, urged Unitarian Universalists to commit themselves to becoming a multicultural and multiracial faith tradition, and announced a new public witness and social justice campaign called "Standing on the Side of Love."

Sinkford highlighted his work to make Unitarian Universalism better known to the general public, from press coverage of his election as the first black leader of the UUA in 2001 to the UUA's marketing and growth campaigns. He said that Unitarian Universalists had matured spiritually during the eight years of his presidency, engaging his invitation to reclaim a "language of reverence" even as they sometimes criticized his own vocabulary.

And he celebrated widespread UU support for same-sex marriage rights: "No issue has defined our life together in the last eight years than marriage equality," he said. "Unitarian Universalists have been in the forefront of the most important civil rights journey of our generation . . . And we are committed to standing on the side of love until marriage equality is legal in California and every state in this great nation."

Sinkford announced the successful completion of the $50 million "Now Is the Time" capital campaign. More than 24,000 individual UUs contributed to the campaign, which raised $21,084,956 in cash gifts and $30,410,309 in planned gifts over the course of the six-year campaign.

And he introduced a new UUA public witness campaign, "Standing on the Side of Love," which will offer a variety of ways for UUs and others to support hate crimes legislation and to spread the word that the mission of Unitarian Universalism is to "stand on the side of love." "We want our message to go viral," he said, describing ways that the campaign will engage everything from postcards to social networking media on the Web. He directed people to the Standing on the Side of Love website to join the campaign.

Volunteers passed out Standing on the Side of Love buttons and postcards, and banners with the campaign logo were hung throughout the convention center.

Sinkford also made his first statement about the turmoil in Iran, where hundreds of thousands of people have marched in the streets challenging the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which has responded with violence and repression: "Let me ask you to hold the people of Iran in your hearts," he said. "May the violence in that land come to an end, and may the will of the people there finally be heard."

He concluded his report by thanking Moderator Gini Courter for her shared leadership of the Association, his wife and children for their support, Executive Vice President Kay Montgomery and the UUA staff for their work, and finally the thousands of Unitarian Universalists who have responded to his calls to action. The General Assembly responded with a long standing ovation.